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I’m always on the lookout for tidbits on the harbor for the blog and I came across this fascinating, historical educational video on youtube. From 1949, it talks about how the port of New York came to be the largest (at the time) port in the nation. Really great close-up footage of the working harbor.
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This Tuesday, May 21, glimpse into the future of our port. Join us on the inaugural voyage of WHC’s new series of tours – Beyond Sandy: Keeping the Conversation Alive.
Expert guest speakers will inform on the many challenges we face post-Sandy, and the different solutions on the table. Come be a part of the discussion. Click here for tickets.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
I’d like to wish all Mom’s everywhere a Happy Mother’s Day! Special shout-out to my mother – thank you for your love and support Mom!
Please enjoy this found historic footage from 1903 of the East River shoreline and the lower piers of Manhattan via gallopingalligator.
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by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Azzam the £400m Mega-yacht. Photo: Klaus Jordan / Lürssen via the Daily Mail.
Mega-yacht Azzam, the largest yacht in the world was launched April 5th at the Lurssen shipyard in Bremen, Germany, surpassing Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich’s Eclipse by 57ft. She measures a mind-boggling 590ft in length and can reach speeds greater than 30kts using a combination of 2 gas turbines and 2 diesel engines with a total of 94000hp, which is astonishing for a superyacht of her size. Currently named ‘Azzam’, but that could changed in the next couple of weeks once her permanent name is crafted on to her stern and sides.
Watch the launch of Azzam via SuperYachtTimes:
From the Daily Mail: Ownership of the £400million craft is shrouded in secrecy but it is rumoured to have been paid for by a member of the Saudi royal family, Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud.
Longer than 12 double-decker buses, not only is Azzam the biggest superyacht, it is also expected to be one of the fastest. The 94,000 horsepower vessel could reach speeds of more than 30 knots, or 35mph.
Longer than some cruise ships: Azzam is described as the ‘most complex and challenging yacht’ ever built. Photo via Daily Mail
The size of superyachts has grown as billionaires compete to own the largest and its builders boast that Azzam, which means dedication in Arabic, is the ‘most complex and challenging yacht that has ever been built’.
It was designed by Nauta Yachts and constructed in Bremen by Lurssen. The firm’s Peter Lurssen said: ‘She truly represents another milestone in yachting history.’
Little is known about the interior of the yacht, which will require a staff of 50 and will be delivered to its owner later this year.
But it is likely to match the luxury of Abramovich’s Eclipse, which features an armour-plated master suite, two swimming pools, two helipads, a hall, a cinema, a mini-submarine and even its own missile defence system.
Video via Daily Mail:
Abramovich has owned Eclipse, which is valued at £740million, since it was launched in 2010. It took the title of world’s biggest private yacht from the 454ft Rising Sun, owned by American businessman Larry Ellison, which in turn took over from the 414ft Octopus, owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.
Prince Alwaleed, who is said to be worth around £10billion, already has Nabil, a yacht formerly owned by Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, in his fleet. If he is confirmed as the owner of Azzam, it will be the second time the 58-year-old has got the better of Abramovich.
Photo via Daily Mail
The 46-year-old Russian was denied a berth at Antibes harbour on the French Riviera in 2011 as the prince had docked another of his yachts, the 265ft Kingdom 5KR, in the last remaining space.
Eclipse’s crew pleaded for a berth but were eventually forced to drop anchor at sea and travel to the Russian’s villa on a motorboat.
Azzam’s design suggests it has been built for a buyer in the Middle East as it has about 50 suites but no large open spaces on deck, said TheYachtPhoto’s Peter Seyfferth.
‘I have never seen an Arab-owned yacht with big parties and girls round the pool like the Russians have,’ he said.
‘It is unlikely it will leave its dock very often. It is more of a question of prestige, to have the world’s largest yacht.’
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
USS Bear, a predecessor of the Coast Guard that patrolled the Alaskan coast. Photo: Coast Guard Museum NW / Frye Collection via phys.org
Ship logs from the 19th century mariner explorers sailing from Pacific Northwest and California to chart the Arctic and the then new Alaskan territories are being studied to explore changes in Arctic climate over the last century. The University of Washington with the support of the National Archives enlisted the help of volunteer citizen-scientists to examine and transcribe data from the historic ship logs. The 19th century handwriting is too stylized for computers to decipher, so human volunteers have been solicited for the task.
From phys.org: Volunteers transcribing pages from their home computers completed the logbooks from the doomed U.S.S. Jeannette expedition, which left San Francisco in the summer of 1879 bound for the North Pole. The ship soon became trapped in thick ice and drifted for almost two years, during which time the 33-member crew maintained the boat, hunted seals and polar bears – and recorded hourly scientific observations.
The observations help to reveal past weather and climate.
“When we see events like Superstorm Sandy, Hurricane Katrina and the recent melt in the Beaufort Sea, people want to know: Has this ever happened before? And that turns out to be a hard question to answer,” Wood said.
Before arriving at the UW in 2004, Wood worked for 25 years as a merchant mariner, so he has firsthand knowledge of maritime weather observations. He also has a longtime interest in studying the Arctic as a climate scientist at the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean, a research center that is a partnership between the UW and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
In 2010, Wood attended a scientific meeting and met Philip Brohan, a climate scientist at the U.K.’s national weather office who had just launched the Old Weather project to transcribe World War I-era Royal Navy logbooks. The two discussed extending it to the U.S. fleet.
Wood approached the National Archives, and an interagency collaboration to allow NOAA access to the logs was established in 2011. OldWeather – Arctic launched last October. Volunteers use historic US ship logbooks to uncover Arctic climate data
A June 22, 1884 logbook entry for the USS Bear. Photo: National Archives via phys.org
Two interns now work at the U.S. National Archives in Washington, D.C., taking archival-quality digital images of each page. So far, the team has photographed more than 275,000 pages containing some 23 million new oceanic, atmospheric and sea-ice observations. The team is ready to add more than 20 ships to the existing fleet of 16. Wood expects that all of the logbooks from 60-some Navy, Coast Guard and Coast Survey ships that traveled to the Arctic before 1950 will be scanned by the end of this year.
Transcriptions are under way thanks to more than 16,000 active Old Weather volunteers, mainly science and history buffs from the U.S., the U.K. and other countries. Volunteers first create an account with Zooniverse, a site that hosts citizen-science projects, and then select Old Weather. A tutorial explains where to find the weather and other information and how to enter it into the database. Volunteers begin as cadets, and then move up through the ranks to lieutenant and captain as they complete transcriptions.
The site’s community forums are active, Wood said. When volunteers discover an unusual incident – say, somebody trying to jump ship through a porthole – they head to the forum to compare notes to find out where that person eventually ended up.
“A lot of people are motivated by being able to see the history unfolding in real time,” Wood said.
And there are other surprises – the interns recently discovered pressed flowers collected on Whidbey Island, Wash., wedged between the pages of an 1891 entry.
Wood and Brohan will analyze the weather observations in completed transcriptions, focusing on the period between 1854 and 1950.
The climate data comes when it’s badly needed, and when it can be particularly useful to scientists. Just five years ago, Wood said, researchers relied on gridded weather observations, so a few new data points gleaned from ship records would be nice, but only a drop in the bucket. Now, sophisticated computer programs can use observations to reconstruct the whole Earth’s atmosphere, and even sparse data points can recreate the weather for an entire region.
Wood is also collaborating with polar scientists at the UW’s Applied Physics Laboratory to add historic sea-ice observations that will help to extend their Arctic sea ice model back into the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Wood notes that the U.S.S. Jeannette became encased in 20-foot-thick sea ice in water that is now ice-free in summer.
“I think these logbooks may change people’s perspective on just how dramatic the current melt back is,” he said.
As with other citizen-science projects, volunteers will be credited on publications. The data is also being added to the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set, for use by scientists worldwide. Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
The USS Monitor
Thousands gathered in Arlington National Cemetery to honor the sailors lost on the USS Monitor. The USS Monitor was the U.S. Navy’s first ironclad warship. She sank with 16 crewmen, off the coast of North Carolina on New Year’s Eve 1862.
The remains of two unknown USS Monitor sailors were recovered from the ship’s gun turret in 2002 by NOAA and the US Navy. Their remains were buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
Reconstruction of two USS Monitor sailors whose remains were discovered inside the Monitor’s gun turret when it was raised from the ocean floor in 2002. Photo: U.S. Navy by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Gina K. Morrissette/Released via NOAA
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From National Geographic: Michael Luchs, an assistant professor at The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, who will attend the ceremony with his three sons, said the realization that he is descended from brothers who were on opposing sides during the bloody conflict makes him feel “more wholly American.”
Luchs’s ancestor, James Bryan of Savannah, Georgia, served in the Confederate Army. James Bryan’s brother, William Bryan, was a crewman aboard the Monitor. William Bryan was one of 16 sailors lost when the ship sank on December 31, 1862.
Luchs recalled hearing his mother talk about his family’s involvement in the Civil War when he was a child. “I’m feeling a whole bunch of different emotions, and sadness is one of them,” Luchs said.
Luchs’s son Matthew, a fourth grader in Williamsburg, said that it’s “strange to know that brothers fought each other” in the Civil War. “I’d like to know some of the reasons, find out why they fought each other.”
A diver swims above the bow of the USS Monitor. Photo: NOAA
The Monitor’s 63-member crew reflected the melting pot of immigrants and cultures that had found their way to the United States by the mid-19th century. The crew included sailors born in Wales and Scotland, as well as African-Americans who were former slaves.
Noel Day, a landscape designer who lives in Long Beach, California, is descended from Daniel Moore, a former slave on a plantation in Prince William County, Virginia. Moore was one of two African-American sailors lost when the Monitor sank. Day can’t attend the Friday ceremony but says he’s glad the unknown sailors are being buried with honors.
“I am very happy that we have a closure for these men,” he said. “The remains of the two men that have been found represent all sailors that died that night. This is a way of honoring all 16 of them.” Day also is glad that the presence of African-American sailors on the Monitor has been recognized. “I think it’s been overlooked for so long,” he said. “I grew up learning about the Monitor in school, and I had no idea there were African-Americans on board.” Read more here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Wednesday, April 10, 6 – 9 p.m.
Community Church of New York
40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
Click here for Tickets
Join us for an evening of film, discussion and refreshments as we revisit the great Age of Sail and highlight today’s use of sailing vessels to transport cargo. We will also venture into the future to look at some revolutionary designs for large sail-assisted cargo vessels. With the rising cost of fuel, designers are investigating new ways to add wind energy to a ship’s power plant.
Are we headed for a new Age of Sail?
Black Seal, Red Hook, Brooklyn. Photo: tugster
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New York, NY, March 22, 2013: When the 70-foot schooner Black Seal docked in Brooklyn in June 2011 carrying 20 tons of cocoa beans from the Dominican Republic, city officials said it was first time in more than 70 years that a sailing ship had brought commercial cargo to the Port of New York.
But it probably won’t be the last time.
“The great windjammers of the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries were driven from the sea by the advent of cheap oil, “ says naval architect and maritime author Rick Spilman. “With the dramatic rise in the cost of fossil fuels and the development of innovative and efficient new sailing rigs, sailing and sail-assisted cargo ships may once again prove to be economical,” Spilman, one of three speakers at the event contends.
WHC’s special evening program will focus on sailing ships at work — from working tall ships from a century ago, present-day cargo-carrying sailing ships and sail-training vessels to and looking to the future with a variety of high-tech sail configurations that that can be used to harness wind power to help propel large cargo ships.
Special guest speakers include:
- Norman Brouwer, maritime historian, writer and lecturer, former curator of ships at South Street Seaport Museum and a foremost expert on sailing ships of all kinds.
- Capt. Margaret Flanagan, marine educator and tall ship sailor, educator at South Street Seaport Museum, and Mate at Classic Harbor Line.
- Rick Spilman, naval architect, maritime writer and founder and host of the Old Salt Blog, a virtual port of call for those who love the sea. His first novel is Hell Around the Horn, a nautical thriller inspired by the voyage of a British windjammer during the Cape Horn winter of 1905.
Wednesday, April 10, 6 – 9 p.m.
Community Church of New York
40 East 35th Street, Manhattan
Click here for Tickets
For additional information, visit WorkingHarbor.org
edited by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee via Betsy Frawley Haggerty and Capt. John Doswell
From the National Park Service:
Maritime history is filled with stories of great sailing ships, plying the massive oceans of the world, run by rugged, swaggering, masculine sailors. It may be that the 19th century sailing vessel was a male dominated and defined world, yet women are assuredly part of this rich history.
For different reasons women through the centuries have stepped outside the status quo, beyond societal definitions of what is suitably feminine. These reasons included responding to dire emergencies while at sea, patriotic wartime duty, economic necessity, a chance at a better life, search for adventure, devotion, and love.
Women in the Age of Sail
Seagoing careers were closed to women during the sailing ship era. A woman might disguise herself as a man and assume a fictitious name; but if she was discovered, her career would be over. The only way for most women to take part in running a merchant vessel before 1900, when sailing ships reigned supreme, was through marriage or by being the captain’s daughter.
The captain’s wife might have learned the art of navigation in a girl’s finishing school, or from her husband or one of the mates (officers).
Mrs. Hansen taking the noon site on board the barkentine Aurora. Photo: NPS
The captain and his wife in their cabin. If she was interested, and the captain allowed it, his wife might assist him in running the ship.
Captain and Mrs. Harrison in their cabin aboard the British ship Eva Montgomery, at Puget Sound, WA, ca. 1904. Photo: Wilhelm Hester Collection via NPS
Usually when a captain’s daughter grew into her teens, she was forbidden to take part in sailor’s work; she was expected to be a lady. The children were not allowed to go forward of the poop deck (the captain’s deck at the stern or back end of the vessel). However, father may have looked the other way when his son sneaked forward to lend the sailors a hand. On British ships the captain could hire his wife as an officer or stewardess, or the first mate’s wife might be the stewardess. The stewardess kept financial records, served meals, and cleaned the after-quarters.
Through diaries and letters, a picture can be composed of women and girls aboard sailing vessels. Eight year old Laura Jernegan wrote this letter, while sailing with her father, Captain Jared Jernegan aboard the whaling bark Roman.
Laura Jernegan’s March 6, 1870 letter to her grandmother in Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard. Courtesy of the Nicholson Whaling Collection, Providence Public Library via NPS.
Laura at age eight. Photo courtesy of the Martha’s Vineyard Historical Society via NPS
In emergencies the captain’s wife might lend a hand. Caroline Mayhew, wife of Captain William Mayhew of the whaling ship Powhaton out of Martha’s Vineyard, possessed a working knowledge of navigation and practical medicine. In 1846 when a small pox epidemic broke out aboard ship, she took over as captain in place of her stricken husband. She then ministered to him and the ailing crew, saving their lives. Medicine chest of a sea captain.
The FLYING COUD, a Gold Rush era clippership was commanded by Captain Josiah Creesy from 1851-1855. Eleanor Creesy sailed with her husband throughout his career and served as his navigator. Photo: NPS
Heroines, Homemakers and Hard Workers
During the nineteenth century several women took on responsibilities that were considered exclusively in the realm of men, and gained worldwide attention for their heroic actions. Others, because of economic necessity, stepped beyond stereotypical roles as wives and mothers.
An oil painting by Gordon Johnson depicting Mary Patten on the clipper ship Neptune’s Car. Photo: Atlantic Mutual Companies via NPS
A remarkable woman, Mary Patten, temporarily took command of a clippership in the 1850s. In July 1856, Neptune’s Car left New York City for San Francisco. Captain Joshua Patten was in command and accompanying him was his wife, Mary, nineteen years old and pregnant. She had married at sixteen and had already been to sea on several voyages during which her husband had taught her how to navigate.
Mistrusting the first mate, the captain removed him from his position and took on his duties. As the ship was rounding Cape Horn, Captain Patten fell ill, his hearing and eyesight failing. Next in line for command was the second mate, but he could not navigate. Mary Patten assumed command, with the second mate’s help and the support of the crew. Navigating and caring for her husband filled every moment; for fifty days she was unable to change clothes. The ship arrived in San Francisco November 1856. The insurers of the vessel rewarded her with one thousand dollars. Mary Patten and her husband returned to New York where she gave birth to a son. Sadly, her husband died three months later.
Eliza Thorrold, Tugboat Master, 1897. One of the earliest licensed women pilots on the West Coast. Photo: SAFR HDC 1113 via NPS
Eliza Thorrold continued to operate the 44-foot steam tug Ethel and Marion on the San Francisco Bay after her husband, Captain Charles Thorrold, died from blood poisoning in 1893. Even though she controlled the tug, the law required that a licensed master be on board if the vessel was transacting business.
Mrs. Thorrold, discussing her application for a tugboat master’s license, in an interview published in the San Francisco Call newspaper, July 30, 1897: “I have long contemplated this move. In fact, my circumstances compel me to become the master of my own boat. As you know, my husband died several years ago and left me with five little children to support and only the tug Ethel and Marion to do so with. What I am unnecessarily obliged to pay for a master for the boat would support the entire family. Four years on the Bay has made me familiar with the practical handling of the boat, and all I want is a license to do what I am competent to do.”
By 1900 Eliza had sold the tug, and in 1915 she and her son opened a neighborhood ice cream and candy store which she operated until her death in 1935.
In 1877 Mrs. Crapo was determined to be with her husband and insisted on sailing with him on a daring, 3000-mile long voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to England in a small, open boat. Her husband initially refused to let her accompany him but she was determined to go. The two arrived safely in England and Thomas Crapo described their arrival: “The crowds gathered waiting for a chance to see us. Mrs. Crapo was the lion of the hour.”
Mr. & Mrs. Durkee. Photo: via NPS
Alice Durkee, wife of Alfred Durkee who was captain of the Balclutha from 1894-1899, sailed with her husband on and off during his 30-year seafaring career. She gave birth to a daughter, Inda Francis, on board the ship.
Workers at Marinship Yard in Sausalito, CA during WWII. Photo: San Francisco Maritime via NPS
In the Shipyard
In 1562 Dutch widow Geert Jans inherits a shipyard from her husband and runs the yard. In 1770 Mary Lacy, disguised as a man, receives her shipwright certificate in England and works among male shipbuilders. In the 1940s Mrs. Fulton inherits and operates her husband’s shipyard north of San Francisco. Read more here…
reblogged by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Fireboat John J. Harvey by the talented and effervescent Bowsprite.
Bowsprite, a beloved member of the Working Harbor steering committee, captures Fireboat John J. Harvey with her fancy brushwork. See more of her amazing artwork here…
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary Royal Rendezvous, 12 March, 2013. Photo: Business Wire via Cunard
From The Financial Post: On 12 March 2013, Cunard Line’s Queen Elizabeth and the legendary Queen Mary will make history when they meet for the first time in a Cunard Royal Rendezvous in Long Beach Harbor. This rare evening encounter will be open to the public and will feature traditional whistle salutes between the ships and conclude with a fireworks display.
Adding to the significance of this event, the Royal Rendezvous will be Queen Mary’s first encounter with a Queen Elizabeth since 1967 when Queen Mary, during her final Transatlantic Crossing in Cunard service, passed by the original Queen Elizabeth on the morning of 25 September.
“The Queen Mary is a cornerstone in our nearly 175-year history, and we are very pleased to introduce our youngest Cunarder to this legendary ship in festive Royal Rendezvous fashion,” said Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line.
“What a fantastic time this fusion of voyages past and present will be for the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Cunard,” said Everette Hoard, commodore of the Queen Mary. “Those that witness this splendid day in history will undoubtedly carry the Queens in their hearts forever.” Read more here…
The public can view this historical event from the aft Promenade Deck of the Queen Mary. Access to the ship will be free to the public from 4-9 pm (plus a $15.00 parking fee). Queen Elizabeth will sail into Long Beach Harbor at approximately 6:30 pm, and the fireworks display will begin at 7:30pm.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
Australian billionaire Clive Palmer revealed the blueprints for his latest venture, the Titanic II. The ocean liner which he plans to build and sail across the Atlantic is a modern replica of the Titanic.
From euronews.com:
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The Titanic II will follow the original design relatively closely, except for modern-day safety and technology improvements like satellite navigation – not to mention modern conveniences and luxuries like wireless internet, a casino, theater and modern hospital.
Palmer wants passengers to experience the Titanic II like it would have been in 1912, complete with period clothing provided to enhance their experience of the era. The three passenger classes will even be prevented from mingling, as in 1912.
However, Palmer is considering offering ticket packages that allow passengers to experience all three classes during the six-day Atlantic crossing.
by Mai Armstrong for Working Harbor Committee
